At least until the 2014 Sochi Olympics are over and the NHL roster freeze comes to an end.

At that point, anyone with a Twitter account can speculate on trades, sending players to wherever they chose.

On Thursday, Sam Gagner was the name bandied about on the social media network after former Edmonton Oil Kings play-by-play announcer AJ Jakubec, now based in Ottawa, heard from a guy, that heard from a guy, who knows a guy, that the Oilers centre was heading to the Los Angeles Kings.

“My phone was blowing up (Thursday) with all the insiders,” said Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins. “Boy, they have great scoops, but they weren’t quite true.

“I just grabbed Sam and touched base and made sure he was alright. Sam’s been around long enough to understand the drill. His job is to play and how he plays is the most important thing and that should be his sole focus.”

Gagner has long been rumoured to be on his way out of Edmonton, having been one of the original next generation before the team bottomed out.

Twitter had him going to Los Angeles for a deal involving Kyle Clifford.

“I shared with him, what I knew about the situation and that a lot of it was being blown out of proportion, and that yes he was playing (Thursday) and that he would be playing (Friday),” Eakins said. “I don’t control any of that, it’s out of my hands. He understands that and he was great. He’s been in the game for over 400 games, he’s been the speculation of trade rumours before and he’s had lots of teammates around him over the years that have gone through it as well.

“All of that stuff, as Randy Carlyle in Toronto puts it best, it’s white noise. You just have to focus on the task at hand and block it out.”

Finishing strong

Many of the Oilers went their separate ways following Friday’s contest against the New Jersey Devils.

With the Olympic break, all those not heading to Sochi, Russia — which includes everyone by Ales Hemsky, Martin Marincin and Anton Belov — were free to go where they please.

Taylor Hall jumped in a car with his father and drove back to Ontario, where he’ll spend a few days before heading off on a Mexican vacation.